Six Flags New Orleans Just Another Reminder of Katrina

June 2, 2009 at 9:17 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Following Hurricane Katrina, there were much bigger crawdads to boil than worrying about the fate of roller coasters and Ferris wheels. However, years after the storm, Six Flags New Orleans continues to sit vacant, serving as a reminder of the devastation of the area.

Situated on the eastern side of the city, the park remains the biggest eyesore to locals who are trying their best to get things back to normal in this area. There may be other damaged buildings that also still wait for the bulldozer or the renovators, but clearly a deserted theme park is one of the largest and most tragic-looking.

Things have been slow to move forward, since Six Flags and the city have been arguing about who owes who money. In 2006 the theme park company tried to get out of its lease for $10 million, but the city said no way, explaining that all that cash wouldn�t even make a dent in the total cost to restore the property. Now the city probably wishes they had accepted the offer, since they'd like to start fixing it up.

Many believe that the park wasn�t doing too hot even before the storm, and rehabilitating the property into a place for screaming kids again just won�t be successful. For now, the whole site just rots there behind locked gates and barbed wire fence.

Six Flags continues to pay the city on its lease of about $1 million a year for the land, but we�re not sure how long that�ll continue with the theme park operator reportedly on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection. Let�s just hope the city can do better with the land, or that Six Flags decides to bring back the park that NoLa deserves.

[Photo: Rusty Darbonne]

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Tags: Amusement Parks / Six Flags / Theme Parks / New Orleans Travel / Katrina / → All Tags